Bomb Charges Keep Suspect Behind Bars

David Scott Harrison will continue to be held in County Jail without bail on charges of possessing pipe bombs because he poses a threat to the community, a Vista Municipal Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Prosecutors also indicated outside the courtroom that Harrison, 31, poses a potential threat to the family of Ann Marie Jenkins, his ex-wife, who was found dead in her San Marcos home Feb. 18, shortly after she and her husband had won $727,000 in the California Lottery.

The substance of the discussion before Municipal Judge William Draper about whether Harrison should be held without bail was heard privately in his chambers between the attorneys on the case.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Chuck Van Deusen said outside the courtroom that Harrison has not been eliminated as a suspect in Jenkins’ death, although neither has he been named as a suspect.

He noted that Jenkins’ and Harrison’s divorce in 1982 after a stormy six-year marriage was particularly bitter, especially over the custody of the couple’s two children. The children were awarded to Jenkins, and on Tuesday another custody hearing was held in private in Vista Superior Court. The outcome of that hearing was sealed by Superior Court Judge J. Morgan Lester.

‘Potential for Violence’

Van Deusen said the prospect could not be dismissed that Harrison, who was arrested last week on charges he possessed four pipe bombs and several “how-to” books on explosives, could be a threat to members of his ex-wife’s family.

“You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to figure out that there’s certainly the potential for violence, considering the volatile nature of the custody battle,” Van Deusen said.

Van Deusen also said Harrison’s release could pose a threat to the citizen informant who tipped authorities to the pipe bombs, which were found in a locked box in a friend’s garage in Escondido.

Harrison’s defense attorney, Bill Fletcher, said he argued in chambers that Harrison, who lives in Del Mar Heights and is a property management broker, be released on his own recognizance or, at least, on the statutory $5,000 bail normally set for persons accused of possessing destructive devices.

Fletcher said he would file a writ in Vista Superior Court in an attempt to have a bail amount set for his client.